General Chat

Well I am back I went and had a shower then some nice sandwiches and a hot coffee so I am refreshed and once more i will do battle with this dancing Box. First cab off the rank is,

Badger you say you are inundated with snow, BRRRRR, but I know you are well equipped for this winter and yes it is just as well you didn't slack off doing the windows, it sure pays to be on the ball.
I put some Egg Plants in (Aubergine) I think you call it, spelling my be wrong. Did Hissy Catch anything. My granddaughter Victoria 15 yrs.
Has downloaded my Photos of Italy to my computer and they look good.

Hi Yevette, I wont try the eggshells thanks, but I might get a couple of curry plants as I like the smell, I bought a spray to do the seedlings but didn't find time to spray and Just as well as it is raining heavy to-day, I dont mind as our water tanks need a top up we use the water for the gardens.
I have heard that Shell Harbour is lovely I might try and convince my friend Barbara that we should visit there, we might be able to meet up for a Tea or coffee.
Re Coker, my Haywards were born in Yeoval West Coker and the female surnames connected to the Hayward line for me were ,
Drewer Sukey (Susan), Hill Mary, Lay Eliza Jane,,O'Brien Mary Cecelia, then my mother, Hayward Eliza Ann Fay, who married, Julius Christian. Zackeresen.
One Day you or I might win Lotto then yipeee its off to Coker we go LOL.

Hello Mel, your reunion Place. I suggested to my cousins that it should be the place wher they settled and they agreed the graves of our ancestors are there all except Israel Hayward as he died at Dunwich in the home and was buried there. Earlier this year we had a plaque put on the memorial wall at Dunwich in his memory.It is located on Morten? Island near Brisbane Qld. Morton?
I have people coming from England and also from New Zealand., so if you really want to come, I dont think distance would be an issue, our reunion is to be held in Mackay Queensland. I live in Bathurst NSW.and all the living Great Grand children of Israel & Eliza will be attending unless some of us pop off before then..

I had some very exciting news on thursday night My grandaughter Karlee aged 14 won the Australian Show Girl of the year .
She was interviewed on channell 9 after the morning show but I missed it unfortunately. Apparently she looked lovely she is Tall and willow and is very pretty, she is the daughter of my Son Michael, we were and still are very excited for her, she is smart , has good manners and speak's well.

I will say good bye to you all,
Kindest Regards, Marie

Dear Folks I wrote such a long letter to you all but the page kept Jumping
and I lost the lot I will try again later as I need to have some lunch
Kindest Regards Marie.

Hi all,

Just thought I would drop in to see what is happening. I have been busy trying to organize a reunion for early in the New Year, probably on our Australia Day, there is just one small problem what place to have it. Does anyone have any suggestions, I think personally that it should be central, so all people will have to travel some distance, others think where they first arrived in the Colony, where they lived the longest etc.
By the way, we are in the middle of a massive storm, hubby has just come in to say that we have waterfalls, our dams overflowing and we are nearly flooded out!! I had better go now. My poor vegies, we sure wont have any now. I'll let you know what happens hopefully!!

hey Marie, I would love to come to Croker at the same time, my mums maternal side of the family have their roots in Chard and Yeovil.
Stranger things have happened. lol xo

hey there,

I heard from the cuzzies too that it also was snowing in Surrey . I think it would be nice to look at but I get crabby staying inside, so would end up wet and cold.

Cabbage moths - urgh, the curry plants I put in seemed to deter them them a bit, the white plastic moths that I made and hung up were useless, the egg shells didnt work, the bird netting was probably the best as long as all the edges were pinned down. you get a big amount of that from bunnings for a reasonable price - maybe give it whirl. I haven't got any brassicas in at the moment but moth deterent techniques take up a lot of thinking time. Marie, i live in Shellharbour - never too hot or cold here. I'm currently making some more pomanders, just time for lunch

xox

Morning Marie,expecting snow? we are innundated with the stuff,lol,looks like we got that other bag of grit and salt just in time.
Hissy is enjoying it ,she gets that mad look in her eyes that most cats get when looking for mischief ,and is scooting around the back garden like a dervish with hot feet.
At the minute she is lurking under the patio chairs ,where she is well camoflaged ,waiting for an unwary mouse or bird to come too close,but she is unlucky so far.
We took the mattress out onto the path this morning ,ready for the recycle people to pick up ,but i reckon they will be held up in this .only three inches so far ,but the sky is full ,and it's snowing like there is no tomorrow ,he he ,Fred dosn't give a stuff,well prepared we are after two weeks of stock piling spare gas cans in case we loose the mains supply,batteries and candles,and plenty of dried food in case we get a bad spell.
This is usual for me ,going back to when i was a toddler in Bucks,in 1945 ,such a bad year ,snow everywhere for weeks on end ,nothing moving on the roads,and being on an R a F base at the time where my dad was stationed ,all the food and fuel was being brought in by Lancaster Bombers ,transferred to choppers ,and flown out to the towns and villages to keep the populace in food and fuel,even the sheep in the fields were being bombed by bales of fodder and turnips to keep them alive.
We had tons of fun ,snowman springing up all over camp ,but the grown ups had a miserable time of it whole families sleeping in one room ,trying to keep warm .
Nice to hear that things are warming up for you over there .lol,but ,our turn will come in a few weeks [hopefully] when spring arrives.
Goes to show though ,that i got these windows done just in time ,if i had left them it would be very chilly in the house now ,with the heating turned right up,but we are comfortable now ,even first thing in the morning with the heating having been off all night.
Nice to hear that the Italy trip was okay Marie ,it sounds as though you really had a good time ,,oooooops ,family crisis ,have to go ,catch you later ,Fred.

Hi All it looks like I am on my own .
Hi to Ja on the limestone Plains I see it is hotting up over your way, it is very warm here to-day also, I am hoping for a storm to-night so I wont have to water.I hope all is well with you

Merle I was sorry to read you lost your brother, I have a younger brother the only one, so I hope I go before he does ( but not for awhile yet fingers crossed.)

I am organizing a reunion for the HAYWARD family from West Coker Somerset for the 1st. weekend in October 2011. I am still waiting to see if we have a venue, then full steam ahead.

Hi Fred they tell me that Ingland is expecting Snow soon, Brrrrryou can keep it.

I had to pull my Bok Choy out because of all the rain, it went to seed,I will try again.
The pesky Cabbage Moth is doing the rounds again you dont happen to have a remedy for them????

Hi Yevette, I hope all is well with you, tell me once more Where do you live, Is it some where on the south coast ?My memory is shocking I seem to have put it away safely and now I cant remember Where, LOL

That is enough said, except it is very sad that so many lives were lost in the mine blast in New Zealand.
May they rest in peace Amen, and may their family and friends find comfort in the knowledge that they died quickly and peacefully from monoxide poisoning before the 1st Blast.
Kindest Regards
Marie

***********Happy Birthday Badger,***********Welcome back to Merle ***********
Hi to Yevette and also to Mary & JA on the Limestone Plains,
I feel hungry after reading your last 2 posts Badger.
Your new purchase's sound good, and I am pleased to hear that your Liz is better but sorry to hear you are not so good, exercise seems to be the best thing for arthritis.
Mary I had a busy time with my daughter sorting and priceing all her stock for the Garage sale on the Saturday my granddaughter Lyndal was home so it was nice to see her,she will be going to the US in early Dec as she has signed a contract with a dance company on a cruise ship for 6 months.
Merle it is good to hear you are in your new unit and liking it also that you have a beautiful dog and that life is very busy.

I will close as it is well past my bed time.
Love and hugs
Marie.

Happy Birthday dear Badger, Happy Birthday to you. Blessing s wished for today and the year ahead JA

Hi all,thought I'd continue on bringing you all up to date.Noeline planned and organised a Sandells cousins reunion which was held over grand final weekend.There were about 40 present including me.Why was I there?cos I refused to be banished to the oldies brigade.It was a very full on weekend but everyone got on so well and a great time had by all.Even my grumpy son found that he had a lot to talk about to all his cousins and enjoyed himself Theycame from qld.nsw,perth.bunbury, the pilbara so wa had a good sprinkling of people.Only three didn't make it I think. My beloved baby brother and favourite sparring partner from Maroochydore died last month. Totally out of order,he was the youngest and had no right to .die out of line.Typical Fletcher.Always had to be first at everything.1Can't stand it, gotta go watch the chefs catchya, luv me

Evening to all,finished the doors at last ,and am having a sit down before i start the tea.As Edith off the other thread has said ,after the news i got from the docs ,i need to keep mobile ,now having arthritis in both hips and osteo porosis in the lower back ,i can't afford to let my bones stiffen up any more ,so it's on with the morning exercises and keeping on the go ,lol.
We had a nice dinner today as arranged [the cobbler] but the son never turned up ,so there was a load of mince left ,so ,we will convert this into tomorrows Shepherds Pie and have put the mince intended for this ,into the freezer ,so Mary ,this tight assed scot has two mince meals frozen down ,not one ,lol,
I just ternd to buy enough meat for two meals at a time ,and save a load of cooking time the following day by doing two days veggies at a time ,just saving time to do other things .
The wife found me two lovely large Sardine at the shop yesterday which i will have for brekkie tomorrow ,pan fried in olive oil with a couple of slices of fresh bread eaten in the native Greek method ,the flesh slid off the bones with the fingers,lovely.yum.
Well ,the doors are finished and the painting is suspended for a few days,while i catch up on the garden which is upside down after the gales these last two days.
Nice to see Merle back ,and in a new place yet,hope you get sorted soon and hope you find it easy to manage ,
Have to go now ,Hissy is walking over my computer because she knows it bugs me ,and so lets me know that it's time she was fed.
Back later ,Fred.

you have mail Merle, re the list . Nice day here but overcast now. Splendid for attacking the vege patch and the feral date palm

xxxxx

Hi to our lovely Merle..We have missed you and was starting to worry a bit..What a lovely friend you have supplying a lappy.. Give him or her a big hug from me..
You sound busy and in good spirits.. how are the knees,,do hope they are not giving you any gyp..
The new place sound great and when there is only one you dont need a big place,,I always think of the housework,,which is one thing I dont like to do ...Even this unit is a pain sometimes when you have to do everything..Good to see you have a lovely dog to keep you company, and to keep you fit with lots of walking..LOL..I need something like that but at the moment it take me all my time looking after OH..
Will send you a list of email addys ..it is a old list but all that I have on my puta..is your email addy the same..let me know before I send it..pm me through GR..

Fred You are the best at managing food that I have ever met..you have so many ideas, and seem to make so little go such a long way..how do you do it..think I need a few lessons from you..Glad Lizz is feeling better on the new tablets..hope you dont get a cold winter again.. perhaps we should pray for global warming,,,LOL...

Hope Marie is having a nice visit to her family..

Tone Thanks for letting us know our lovely Merle was back..

Take care all

Love Mary xxx

Hello everyone!!!!!Oh, how good is it to be able to say that at long last..
Am sitting at a wonderful new puter,a laptop,which a kind,generous friend bought for me.A bit embarrassing, don't know what I could possibly have done to deserve it.
hello fred, great to be greeted by one of your "small" missives.I have missed you all.
Mary darling please say hello quickly.
I now live in a brand new two bedroom unit a couple of streets away from the old place.Moved in on August 27 andisn't it funny, the smallest house but the largest kitchen I've ever had. Theres plenty of room,all wheelchair access, lotsof security stuff,when I finally get it all to work. Didn'tstop some kind soul smashing my gate last weekend though,I guess some of our little coloured brethren have finally found where I live.Ah well,got to have some excitement New address is unit 4/ 82 David st , you know where. Two of my old neighbours died a couple of days after I left.. not a healthy place right now............i lost everything when the puter blew up so need a new list of names etc please. Have skype on too boys and girls hint hint.
It's three years since dear old himself died and I miss him very much. Am happy enough with my life, there's just a mighty big hole in it.
Am a care attached to the hospice grief support team andjoined the prison fellowship. Visit once a fortnight to help with service. .alsopart of the Cycamore tree group who go in and run courses at the prison.Sorry if I already told you thatbefore. Little Casey went to doggy heaven and I have an eight or nine year old papillon/cavalier cross. and we're in love.He's the gentlest thing and a face to melt the hardest heart. We walk each other every day and he lets me know if I look like forgetting. like today. It freezing and I ain't goin I'm being glared at.
Anyway, that should be enough for a start,see ya, luv me

Mornin' all from over the pond ,in the frozen north [not too bad yet].where old pest Fred ,and the wife are havin' the day off ,after a marathon soup cooking day,made some traditional north country soup ,with lentils ,leek ,peas, carrot and sundry other ingredients,which we had a sample for tea last night ,[very tasty,and the rest is in the freezer for later use.
we also did two other soups which have also been put down for future use,so we are doing okay.
Liz seems to be responding to the new tablets ,and had a far better night last night ,and seems a lot better than of late ,so i have my fingers crossed.
I am going to start the three doors on Wednesday this coming week ,which shouldn't take long with the little electric sander and the low odour ,quick drying paint ,and then it's away with all the decorating gear until after Christmas.
The basis of the pea and ham soup ,and the country soup came from the piece of bacon we found on offer at Morrison's ,a nice piece of smoked fillet of gammon ,on offer at £4-50p from which after i had roasted it in the oven in a sealed container with added water ,did us a tea ,of bacon ,roast tatties ,parsnips ,cabbage and carrot .the juices kept for you know what.
After slicing the rest up ,i was left with four meals of thinly sliced bacon ,six slices in each ,and a piece left which was uncuttable without ruining my good ham knife on the spikes of the carving dish,so that's earmarked after going through the grinder,for a ommlette[bacon ,cheese and onion] and enough left for tea done as mini pizza [muffins cut in half with the bacon ,laid on tomato concentrate,chopped onion and black olive ,sprinkled with cheese ,banged under the grill,for two minutes and put on a plate with the fried tattie pieces left from yesterdays dinner .
hows that from a smallish piece of bacon ,a real tight assed scot ,that's me ,lol
Havn't tried the new oven yet Marie ,but after swapping the new oven frying tray when it arrived [too big ] for my cooker ,for the one from the microwave ,which fits great i have it sorted fine.
Glad to hear that the holiday was good ,i only ever flew through Italy on the way home from the middle east once ,and to my disgust ,wasn't even allowed to leave the terminal ,grrrrr but that's life ,i can't complain ,seeing lots of the world that others only dream of ,some good ,and great ,others i would rather forget ,again ,that's life ,lol.
I hope you do at last get something sorted for John Mary ,it's about time your fortunes changed for the better .
Nice to hear that Tony is at last getting his garden under way after the disaster earlier with the heavy rain ,the gardening news from over there makes things more cheerful for me ,us rapidly sinking into the depths of winter yet again,and ,after the hedge tops ,which i may get done this afternoon ,is about it for me till spring ,other than the odd bit of weeding when the rain and frosts let up for a few days ,he he.
I need to get a builder in come early spring too ,i have that cooker hood to the outside wall to see to because all the steam of the cooking is going nowhere,and i can see no point in having a new double glazed unit fitted with a fan put in ,when there is a fan already in the hood.
Plans are already a foot to put in new bench tops in said kitchen along with a new free standing halogen cooker with a double oven ,to further reduce energy bills,but i did the right thing in renewing a two year contract with british gas for electricity and gas until September 2012,.lol.just in time too ,as it looks like another 10% hike in the fuel costs this winter.
The new dryer arrives Tuesday after which there will be no more hanging washing indoors to dry if its' wet outside,and if the washing comes in just a tad damp ,into the dryer it will go,and the steam vented into the garden ,yippee ,no more soggy bread in the toaster ,lol.
I was sooo ruddy fed up of the acer laptop freezing on holiday that i went out yesterday and treated us to a new 3 gig laptop with a 350 gig hard drive ,on offer at Currys reduced to £390 from £500,a nice little Toshiba Satellite which should do us well,the old acer ,i have shoved all the important files onto ,and it's upstairs in reserve ,ho hum ,the first early Christmas present to us both ,he he..
Time to go ,i think i will do this hedge top before it rains again ,lol, catch you all later ,Fred.

Sorry about that but the page keeps dancing up and Down.

Hi to Yevette I am pleased your trip to England was successful

my holiday to Italy was great Lovely food and wine and Wonderful sights to see .I loved the top of Italy, Milano, Verona .Florence Pissa the lakes district was Beautiful.

Hello to Mary, & Fred I hope your weather isn't too cold yet,I wish ours would warm a little. How is your new Oven I guess you are giving it a work out and has your new Dryer arrived?

I must away,
Kindest regards to you all


Marie

Hello all, you sure are right Tony, it is a multicultural place, I just wish the world were a bit more like us.I didn't even get a ticket in a Melbourne cup draw I thought they would have had one at the Gym but no one had organised any, never mind I wouldn't have managed to win.

Our weather in Bathurst is continueing to be overcast with rain and very cool.

My beans are up the Bok choy is in also lettuce,beetroot Eggplant,cucumber,and Pumpkins, some are already flowering,I have to plant some Carrotts.

I am off to the coast to visit my daughter and then spend a few days at Shoal Bay, I hope we get a bit of*********Sunshine***********while we are there. Next Page

Hi everyone We have rain...yyaayy...

Tony With all that rain you have had it is a wander that you dont have a swimming pool instead of a lawn...think of all the laps you could do..LOL..

HAving a quiet weekend..Its raining again and that is a good excuse to stop indoors..makes me feel very lazy though..

Yette You had a great trip to the UK,,one day I will make it..

The Aussies are having a touch of global cooling as well as the friends in the Uk..so keep warm all..

Love Mary xxx

Morning from a reasonably sunny Melbourne city.
Can walk around outside with short sleeved shirt on.

Amazing walking around the shopping centers and seeing all the Xmas decorations up and in full swing.
Makes me wonder where the year went?
Only seems like last week i was taking down the decorations, and now its nearly time to put them back up.....lol

Won nowt on the Melbourne cup racing, although i did back the field $24.....but the payout was less than the winner paid.....:>((

Think i needed a 100 to one chance to win it, to get a reasonable return.

"Americana"......owned by Aussies, trained in Italy, and ridden by a french jockey. Talk about a multicultural country this is....hee hee

Down at the local garden centre this morning to buy up a few punnets of Cherry tom's and Spring onions to plant in my Vegie patch which appears to be coming along at the moment. Only have to keep the pesky grey possums at bay, and we will have our salads for upcoming summer months. Damn pest they are, but protected by Australian laws. Try telling that to a New Zealander....lol
Think they dispose of as many as they can and make Davey Crockett hats out of the fur skins, or moccasins, and are clasified as a pest over in the land of the great white cloud.


Front Lawns need mowing after all the rain we have had, and where i live the lawns are 60 metre's long by 3 metres wide up one side of my house, and 30 metres by 3 metres across the front, not including inside the boundary ( front garden ) 30 metres by 20 metres, and the back garden 30 metre by 30 metres.....and a tank of petrol in the mower is short lived....lol


Wishing all a great weekend...whatever your doing.



Tony....;>))

HI there, squezing in a visit between making dinner, cooking mulberries and going to work.

Had the best time in the UK with friends and relatives, was brave and organised my itenerary,even if it was only for a short amount of time. Also got to do mini meets in QLD before I went. Walked my little legs off and ate, drank and was generally very merry

Was hard to believe that I was walking the streets where my ancestors had lived 200 years ago, but also seeing the places where I lived over 44 years ago.

I dont do Melbourne Cup, I might leave it until I retire and then I'll be well and truely ready for it. Best go before the mulberries catch

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